Hello & help! slipped on pre-op

[itsRiRi]

Hi!!
I am having my sleeve op on 5th August so I am at the end of week 1 of my pre-op diet.
On wednesday night I had a little slip up and had a few drinks....
How bad do you think this will be?!
I have pretty much stuck to my diet and I have already lost quite a bit of weight...
Scared I'm going to be denied!!!:cry:

 

[rudders]

Hiya

I'm not going to get all school teacher on you but are you sure you're ready for the op if you've slipped up pre op and with the worse thing possible - alcohol?
Post op you are going to have to make healthy decisions.
Please don't take this as a telling off but as a constructive suggestion that you might not yet be ready for the strictness of surgery.
I wish you well x

 

[Lincs Lass]

Sadly our bodies hate us. It doesn't matter how good you were before, having something like alcohol will make the liver stiff again.

From now on you really need to follow your pre-op to the letter - to your providers instruction.

No key can say for definite what effect if will have until your surgeon starts the op.

Good luck.

 

[Lincs Lass]

Should say 'no one' not 'no key'!!

 

[itsRiRi]

Thanks rudders - I know it is the worst thing. I wasn't thinking at all - a friend got engaged and celebrations followed... I have never been a big drinker and only used to drink once a month, maybe even less.
I am totally ready for this surgery and have already come this far so there is no way I am slipping up again!

 

[Yvessa]

Hi!!
I am having my sleeve op on 5th August so I am at the end of week 1 of my pre-op diet.
On wednesday night I had a little slip up and had a few drinks....
How bad do you think this will be?!
I have pretty much stuck to my diet and I have already lost quite a bit of weight...
Scared I'm going to be denied!!!:cry:

You should be denied. The preop diet is not there to make you lose weight for the safety of your surgery. You say you have pretty much stuck to the diet - suggests to me this may not be your only slip. You ask how bad it's going to be - well, the worst is they could go ahead with your surgery and due to having a slightly enlarged liver, you could bleed to death. Are you sure you're ready?

 

[tealovingsleever]

I just don't understand how people can't stick to a diet for a few weeks. I know we have problems but if you can't control yourself in the short time why do you think surgery is going to work? The sleeve doesn't stop you eating or drinking alcohol.

I suggest you check with your team, we can't tell you if it's safe to go ahead or not.

 

[top_kat]

Welcome


A slip up, no matter how big or small could be the difference of you having surgery or not! what Yvessa has said may sound harsh, but she is spot on!

Look at why you did it - weight loss surgery is not always the answer if you're not able to follow guidelines! Post op it takes a LOT of hard work, self control over what and how you eat, I've had my band for 11 months, and some of those have been really hard to achieve the losses that I have, but strictly following guidelines.

But, wls requires you to follow strict guidelines and you NEED to be in the right frame of mind for it. if you're struggling with your pre-op guidelines, and so early on, it could suggest that maybe you aren't ready for the surgery option you have selected, that you aren't in the right mindset for the changes that you need to make.

surgery isn't the easy answer that some people believe (and I'm not saying that you think/believe that), but it takes a lot of work and the right mindset and headspace to make it work, for it to work and for us to work with it . . .are you in that place? If not, maybe this is neither the right time or the right thing to be doing.

"A few" turns to more, once, turns to more often and then people say their method of weight loss surgery is failing, when the reality is, it's them who are reason behind it not working!

Also, the pre-op diet is there to prepare your liver for surgery, be aware that if its not prepared correctly, you could find coming around from the surgery that it hasn't been done - "minor slip ups" aren't worth it . .

 

[paddyp]

I am sorry but I think some of the replies are way too harsh. She's not saying she hasn't followed the plan, but that she made a mistake / error of judgement / whatever, and made the wrong choice.

I found it absolutely hell on the pre op, but consider myself very fortunate that with the support of those around me I managed to get this far (night before surgery tonight) but I can honestly say it came close at times. I don't believe that means I should be denied the surgery for being human. If she had pigged out and not stuck to the plan at all that's different. I could find it very easy to be pious now and ask "are you really ready for this" but I have absolutely no right to do that as I was a whisker away from falling off the wagon myself.

Stick to the plan for the rest of the time. If your liver isn't ready the surgeon won't operate on you. You have taken the risk and will no doubt face whatever it brings but you can get through the rest of this.

For those who can't understand why people can't stick to a diet - why would any of us need the surgery if it was that simple? I have never spoken to anyone who has not had the grace to admit that their surgery, be it band, bypass or sleeve hasn't made all the difference in the choices they make x

 

[fjsinc]

I actually think you need to talk to your provider, they are the best to advise. They may want to delay your op, but that may be for the best. You need to reflect on why you gave yourself permission to do this.

 

[fjsinc]

I am sorry but I think some of the replies are way too harsh. She's not saying she hasn't followed the plan, but that she made a mistake / error of judgement / whatever, and made the wrong choice.

Unfortunately, the slip up was alcohol, the effect on the liver is very detrimental. We have all done the pre-op, and its not easy, but is a testament to our commitment to this process.

The further out you get, your perspective changes on what that commitment means.

 

[itsRiRi]

Thanks paddyp.
I joined this site thinking it was a SUPPORT forum, but it seems as though some people think that their own experience makes them the font of knowledge on this subject.
I don't intend to give up. I do, however plan on not visiting this forum again.

 

[tealovingsleever]

For those who can't understand why people can't stick to a diet - why would any of us need the surgery if it was that simple? I have never spoken to anyone who has not had the grace to admit that their surgery, be it band, bypass or sleeve hasn't made all the difference in the choices they make x

I said "for a few weeks" - anyone can be disciplined for a few weeks if they can't this process isn't going to work for them!

The problem for most of us is sticking to a diet for a year or more to get the weight off and then keeping it off.

 

[femfrankie]

Itsriri sorry but I have pretty much got to agree with lincs lass and Yve here. Didn't your team not point out to you the reasons why you need to stick to the pre op diet laid down for you. It is not an exercise they give you to be sure you can lose weight. You are on it so that they can perform your surgery safely. You may well be denied if your liver has not become "floppy" as well as shrunk by the time your op date comes around. They won't know until they open you up. I'm about to start my pre opin a few days time. I am not looking forward to it.. I don't think anyone does in honesty but there is no avoiding it and if you can't do two weeks liquid diet and no alcohol now how are you going to manage afterwards??
Whenever i have the urge to go off the rails I remind myself that in my area only 10 people per year have the opportunity for WLS ... I owe it to the thousands of unlucky ones that have sought and lost out in the funding stakes here where I live to succeed...not just for my own gratification but so that I can say hey mr treasurer this works how about increasing your bariatric list?
There are a few out there that think it is their god given right to have this surgery no matter how reckless they are throughout the process without giving a thought to how lucky they actually are to have got the funding in the first place. Sorry itsriri if I sound scathing but I truly do hope that you do stick to your diet plan to the letter from now on and that your surgery proves to be a great success. Good luck

 

[Kezzakins]

I am having my sleeve on Tuesday and I have felt close to falling off the plan but I think the fear of not getting my Surgery kept me on track. I do think alcohol was definitely one of the worst things that u could slip up on but I am by no means judging you because I know how hard this is.
I think you will find that most of us that are in this position where WLS is our next step have obviously had a problem with our relationship with food. 2 weeks of a liquid diet is hard enough for even the strongest of us.
I agree it may be worth talking to your support team to be sure they don't want to delay your surgery.
I wish u luck in your journey and keep us updated on how things are going xxx

 

[Yvessa]

I am sorry but I think some of the replies are way too harsh. She's not saying she hasn't followed the plan, but that she made a mistake / error of judgement / whatever, and made the wrong choice.

But she hasn't followed the plan. Nowhere on her pre-op diet sheet will it say 'mistakes allowed' or 'alcohol consumption is not a problem' etc. She has indeed made the wrong choice, and my worry is that, at a time when I was desperately sticking to my diet and praying that I survived an incredibly dangerous surgery, her mindset is that a few drinks is just a slip up.

I found it absolutely hell on the pre op, but consider myself very fortunate that with the support of those around me I managed to get this far (night before surgery tonight) but I can honestly say it came close at times. I don't believe that means I should be denied the surgery for being human. If she had pigged out and not stuck to the plan at all that's different. I could find it very easy to be pious now and ask "are you really ready for this" but I have absolutely no right to do that as I was a whisker away from falling off the wagon myself.

You came close, but you didn't cheat. We've all done that, and frankly, post op is really much of the same. But during it the preop it is lifethreatening. You suggest that we're being harsh, but frankly giving her a hug and saying there there, its okay would be harsher when she wakes up to the reality of post op, or worse, with five holes and no op.

For those who can't understand why people can't stick to a diet - why would any of us need the surgery if it was that simple? I have never spoken to anyone who has not had the grace to admit that their surgery, be it band, bypass or sleeve hasn't made all the difference in the choices they make x

Why do you think people fail? The majority start in the same place, unable to cope with a diet, we can lose weight in the short term but ultimately revert. The preop is a crash diet - it is two weeks and doable. But inevitably we have to look at why some regain and some don't. Because none of us go into these ops able to diet. And somehow we have to find the strength within ourselves and the self respect and the coping mechanisms not to allow those behaviours back into our post op lives. And I'm not talking two weeks, I'm talking decades. Thats why we had the op isn't it? So I have no sympathy for the woman who decided 'a few drinks' was an appropriate slip up. I have every sympathy for each person who has struggled successfully to make their op as safe as possible and give themselves the best possible opportunity for the rest of their life.

 

[Lincs Lass]

Dear ladies and gents

Please can I suggest we draw a line under this.

I think poor ItsRiRi has kopped a lot of flak as there have been a lot of people recently who have not followed the pre-op diet and (not in her case) a few have been a bit blasé about it.

We all know we've reached the stage of needing surgery as we've not controlled our appetite. I was lucky in my mindset changed when told I had to go on my pre-op diet. Others struggle every minute of it but do it.

Likewise we all know that if we don't follow it we risk out chances of having the op and/or our recovery from it. We also risk screwing it up for others. Mr Sufi at The Whittington has been known to cancel 2 weeks of operations after having 3 'stiff livers' in a row.

Maybe we can start a pre-op diet thread, possibly get it stickied (?) of tips, advice, reasons, blunt truth so people starting their pre-op have somewhere to go for advice, boot up the bum etc.

I'm not 'getting' at anyone or trying to belittle anyone's views. I just think we can use our experiences in a better way.

Hugs to you ALL xx

 

[fjsinc]

I second that Lincs Lass! ItsRIRI, I'm not having a go, I'm just concerned for you. Practically, I urge you to talk to your team. They are there to support you.

 

[femfrankie]

I couldn't agree more about the sticky thread Sue. So many peeps slipping up at the first and arguably perhaps the most important hurdle. It also appears some are unclear as to the purpose of the pre op stage in the first place and maybe that needs to be made a bit clearer.

 

[annemieke_loves]

I had a slip up on my pre op diet, on day 10ish I think, I had a couple of dairy Lea light triangles, not great, but I got straight back on track straight after. I was worried about the op, but surgeon said my liver was great, but I would've been gutted if op wouldn't have happened coz of liver being fatty